Electric Car Charging
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Electric Car Charging

Byrichard

For a few weeks I have access to an electric car. This is an opportunity to experience what it’s like to have a car that you recharge, rather than refuel. I ran the car from one hundred percent down to fourty percent before charging it. It gave me a charge time of 11hrs.

A Normal Plug

I’m using a normal plug, rather than a dedicated car charger so the charging time is much longer than it would be with a specialised charging option. I didn’t expect such a long charge time. I expected it to take two or three hours.

Cars Spend Their Lives Parked

Although a charge time of eleven hours, or nine hours sounds long it isn’t, when you consider that a car would be parked for nine hours if someone was commuting to work, and twenty hours per day when under normal use. Under such circumstances charge time doesn’t matter, because the car is parked most of the time.

Plugs Are Not Standard for Parking

The issue is not that charging takes twelve hours. The issue is that I don’t have a plug in my parking spaces at home. It’s because of this that the charge time gets in the way. When a car is left to charge whenever it’s parked it never discharges so fully, so the charge time is reasonable. It’s because I couldn’t plug in the car, to top up the charge that it takes so many hours now.

A Shopping Trip

For a trip to the shops and back the car used a theoretical two percent. Two percent is nothing. That would take minutes to charge not hours. In this circumstance the car is cost effective.

The Battery Hog

I drove a journey three times. The journey takes twenty percent, ten percent per direction. The result is that I discharged the battery to fourty percent. I plugged it in to charge for two or three hours but that only charged what I had spent in getting from A to B, not to recharge from A to F. I need three times the charge time if I want to fill in the charge deficit.

Motorway Inefficiency

Contrary to popular belief the energy hog of motorways doesn’t come from the speed at which you drive, but from accelerating regularly. If the car you’re behind is at eighty kilometres per hour on the motorway you need to accelerate to one hundred and twenty not to slow down the fast lane. You’re wasting a huge amount of energy because people don’t drive at a constant speed on motorways. In a petrol car it takes minutes to refill a fuel tank. In an electric car it takes hours.

On the motorway I am tempted to drive at one hundred, and attempt to keep a steady speed, rather than accelerate and slow down. When I slow down I recover some charge but I still waste more due to people’s inconsistent driving styles.

Don’t Deplete the Battery

If you’re driving an electric car, and you don’t have a car charging port make sure that you don’t deplete the battery. Going from 80 percent to one hundred percent can be done in a matter of two or three hours, but getting from thirty two percent to one hundred percent takes ten to twelve hours.

And Finally

My problem is not with the electric car. Quite the opposite. I love the idea of an electric car and I am happy that I get to play with one for a few weeks. My frustration is with the lack of charging options in my own garage. If I had a normal plug in my garage I could charge my car at home. We don’t need dedicated car charging ports. We just need a plug so that we can charge our cars, as if they were mobile phones or laptops. With this simple option an electric car could be charged with ease, overnight, without overloading the building’s power supply.

A Walk During Cow Rush Hour

A Walk During Cow Rush Hour

Byrichard

Yesterday I decided that I would start my walk by going along a dangerous bit of road, at the start of the road. The idea behind this is to avoid being endangered by selfish car drivers when I’m fatigued. It’s better to put up with their dangerous behaviour ahead of a walk, rather than after it.

I Don’t Want To Give Up Walking Locally

I spent time thinking about walking, and avoiding cars, and I came to the conclusion that I no longer want to walk across a bridge. Every time I walk across that bridge I see cars driving too fast and to close to other people, as well as myself. One day someone will be injured on that bridge. The bridge is barely wide enough for one car to drive by, and cars often play chicken with each other, and play Russian roulette to see if they can get away with running the gauntlet without hitting each other.

there is a good bridge just a few meters away that pedestrians could use safely, but it’s made to look as if it’s on private property so I stopped using it. That farmer has a vineyard. He recently planted bushes to mark his land but in doing so he has forced people to walk on a busy road, rather than in the grass. We could cross the road but because the pandemic hasn’t ended, I prefer to be across the road from others.

The Safe Walk

I can leave the village I live in, on foot, along a wide road with good visibility. By walking along this road I can see cars coming from far away and they have plenty of space to deflect to the other side of the road, to show some respect. I can also flee into the grass without too much trouble, should I feel the need. I have a lot of room to get away from cars that are driven by people who never walk.

The rest of the route is nice. I walk up through a village, go slightly beyond it, and then I turn right, and then I walk along a weather worn road towards some fields where cows spend their days. Yesterday I counted up to 11 herons in the field with cows and another field nearby. The beauty of this route is that few people walk it. People like to walk along two paths, and I use a third. I walk right after lunch, on a regular basis, because that’s when the walks are quietest.

Blocked by Bovine Rush Hour

Yesterday I was blocked from continuing onwards by the cows. They were being transferred from one field to another and to do this the road was blocked. I could have pushed my way through but I didn’t mind having to wait a few minutes, whilst the cars were migrated from one field to another, ahead of milking.

Long Distance Walks

One of the challenges I face is that I don’t want a short 3-4km walk. I want an 8-10 km walk and in order to have such walks you need to walk between villages, and along busier roads. Nothing is built for people who want to walk from village to village so it’s for us to find routes that are not too exposed to car traffic, and especially dangerous road segments. This road segment is very dangerous. Cars go along too fast, and there is nowhere for pedestrians to shelter. There is a smaller bridge here but it seems to be on private land and there is a metal chain to block access if you come from the village. If this bridge was open to pedestrians and cyclists then walks would be much more pleasant, and a lot less dangerous.

Danger comes from cars not slowing down, and not letting others pass safely. The other danger comes from people not deflecting to the other side of the road to avoid pedestrians when there is no reason not to.

Mobilité Douce With Blinkers

There is a pedestrian mobility site but as with every other mobility body it looks at cities rather than the countryside. It looks at making walking popular for people who already have pavements, side streets and more, rather than to connect villages. The more dangerous it is to walk from village to village, the more likely people are to use cars. Switzerland has invested millions in cycle paths, and yet those cycle paths go through car parks, and in summer the cycle paths along the lake become pedestrian paths for the car drivers who parked on the pedestrian paths.

You don’t encourage people not to use cars, if you make it dangerous to walk or cycle between villages. Policies and decisions are taken by people who live in cities and towns, rather than villages.

For more than a decade, but especially since the pandemic lock downs I have seen the need for walking paths that connect villages, without cars or other vehicles. Walking and cycling routes should be safe and pleasant for walkers. Walking between villages should be a pleasure, not a gamble.

And Finally

If I walked once or twice a week I wouldn’t feel the way I do. it is because I walk along these paths every day, and I am exposed to the danger on a daily basis. It’s since they put in some bushes that I feel in danger. Until those bushes were put in I was in danger crossing the bridge but I was safe before, and after. Now I’m in danger walking to the bridge, and from the bridge, by a farmer’s choice. What was a safe and pleasant route, became deadly.

Walking is the simplest, cheapest, and lowest impact sport we can do from home, without using a car. As a result infrastructure should be put in place to make it possible to walk for 10 kilometres without having to expose ourselves to walking by dangerous road sides. The safer we make walking, the less we will have to deal with the nuisance of cars.

On Silent Walking and Having My Own Mastodon Instance

On Silent Walking and Having My Own Mastodon Instance

Byrichard

In an ideal world Silent Walking would make sense. In an ideal world the environment where you walk would be quiet and free from distractions. How many of us live somewhere that is far from cars, road works, construction, farming and other noises? During my walks I hear the sound of a motorway, the sound of a quarry, the sound of buildings being demolished, and the noises of construction. I also hear the sounds of cars driving too fast and too close.

From my introduction you will be misled into thinking that I don’t like silent walking, but I do practice it often. I often walk for an hour and a half and for the first half hour or the last half hour I remove the earphones and I just walk, in the moment. I also cycle without any distractions, ever, except for the GPS and taking pictures, but that’s part of being in the moment, rather than a negative distraction.

I also mindful drive. I don’t turn on the radio for music. I don’t always listen to audiobooks or podcasts. I often drive without the radio on, because of my cycling habit. I don’t listen to anything when cycling because I want to hear the dangerous drivers as early as possible, to turn around, let them see that I know they’re there, so that they behave in a more humane manner.

Lockdown and Silent Walking

lockdowns were a fantastic time for Silent Walking because at the time people were walking, rather than driving cars, so the environment was silent. Without cars walking routes really open up. Without cars you can walk by a motorway without the noise of cars. Without heavy traffic walks that were unthinkable were feasible, because there was little noise pollution, and less danger. I found a lot of new routes during lockdown, which is why I believe we should have more walking paths between villages and towns.

Walking and Danger

I love walking without using the car, but in order to do these walks I need to walk along busy roads where cars are driving above the speed limit, and give no safety margin. If I tripped or fell, I’d fall under a speeding car and they would have no time to avoid me.They’d be left with a mess to clean up.

Noise Pollution

I believe that for Silent Walking, for Mindful Walking, it would make sense to use noise cancelling headphones, with a podcast or audiobook, rather than nothing. As I wrote before, you have the sounds of construction, of motorways, of speeding cars, of gravel pits and more. The silence that they idealise doesn’t exist, so to be mindful requires creating one’s own silence, one’s own white noise.

The Right Values

During Lockdown people had the right values. They gave up on the car, in favour of walking and cycling locally. Not only was the world more quiet and mindful, but so the freedom to walk and explore, without using the car was around. Modern society has lost a lot, by over-relying on cars. If we would walk, cycle, skateboard and more, we would benefit as a society.

On Having a Personal Mastodon Instance

I was mucking around with WordPress, Classic Press and the Fediverse and it was fun. I lost interest eventually because I found that I didn’t especially like the Fediverse. Everything that I hated about Twitter was transplanted onto Mastodon so I declared bankruptcy and deleted two or three accounts, and didn’t really get back into the Fediverse for a while.

Trending Freedom

By having my own instance I found that not only could I avoid having any trending hashtags but I could also see which tags I see, and which ones are muted. By having full control I can control my own experience, rather than relying on the values of others.

Stream Control

By controlling my own instance I start from an empty feed. I can add, or remove individuals or hashtags with ease. In so doing I control how positive or negative the conversations are, and whether I see toxic discussions or not. By controlling what I see, I control how I feel, and that’s important. It means that if I find something toxic, to me, I can remove it. With Twitter and other instances I can’t control the community with as much freedom as on my own instance so it doesn’t take much for something to feel toxic.

Cost Control

If Azure, AWS or Infomaniak had Mastodon as an option for a self-configuring system then I would use that for experimentation. I’m using masto.host because it was the cheapest option, aside from free. With it I can familiarise myself with moderation tools and more, without having to go through the configuration and installation process.

And Finally

One of the key advantages of having my own Mastodon instance is that I need to behave. I need to be more positive, but I also have more control. For some reason the freedom of controlling my own server makes Mastodon more fun. I hope that I will finally stop bouncing from server to server now.

iOS and Environmentalism
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iOS and Environmentalism

Byrichard

If you use the weather app on iOS 17 the weather app provides you with information about average temperature and average precipitation. It tells you how different the temperature and rainfall are, compared to average. Today, for example, I see that the temperature is 4°c warmer than the average. It tells me that usually the temperature is 17°c and that the current outside air temperature is 21°c.

For 25 September the normal temperature range is 5° to 21°, and the average high is 17°, today’s high temperature is 21°.

If I look at the average rainfall I can see that it should be 12.9cm rather than 12.6cm.

Historically the average total precipitation from 26 August to 25 September has been 128.5mm. Today, the total for the last 30 days is 125.6mm.

It also gives us the moon phase, the visibility, humidity and more. The current visibility is 27km. Some day they will tell us what the usual visibility is for this time of year, when they collect enough data.

Making Climate Change Visible

With the new weather app Apple is making climate change visible. We have gone from weather apps that tell us what the weather is and will be to what the weather usually is, and how big the difference is, from the norm. We can look at the temperature and rainfall differences. These are two easy to understand metrics. Within a second we can see that the weather is better or worse than it should be.

Comparing Locations

When you look at Chamonix it is 13°c warmer than it should be for this time of year. It is far out of the usual range for this time of year. The difference is 13°c. It’s 22°c and the average temperature should be 9°c. It’s t-shirt weather in Chamonix.

And Finally

With Big Data and AI it is easy for a company like Apple to look at the weather data from several centuries and comment on it, in relation to current conditions. Once per day it can be refreshed to give the current variation between the norm, and the current situation. By giving people this information it allows people to see how serious climate change is, as well as how it affects them personally.

I no longer have to say “it feels like it never rains” and “it feels too warm for this time of year.” The App provides quantitative data, to prove that the opinion, or sentiment, is correct.

This move makes the Apple Weather App more interesting. The Swiss weather app provides similar information but in the form of blog posts written by humans, every few days.

The First WHO/Europe Indoor Air Conference
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The First WHO/Europe Indoor Air Conference

Byrichard

Yesterday we could of the first indoor air quality conference. It was available in French, German, Russian and English. The link is to the English language version.

This is an interesting conference to have because, as two or more speakers highlighted, we spend up to 80 percent of our lives indoors, whether at work, at school, at home or at play. Think of indoor climbing for example, or the gym, and restaurants. By spending so much time indoors it is important to think about how we aerate but also ensure that air is healthy.

One speaker said “We’re never taught how to properly aerate buildings, we just improvise”. This is interesting, and you can see this during a heatwave. A few years ago I worked in an office on the ground floor. It would get very warm. I had no air conditioning so with trial and error I learned that if I opened the window, and the door to the rest of the building I could get a nice draft to cool down. By doing this I created a draft but this brings us to the second issue.

The air from outside may not be idea. A speaker dealing with TB patients in Siberia said that when it’s -42°c outside you can’t open windows to get fresh air, without freezing, so you need to find other solutions. In other cases you may open a window for fresh air but you may get ozoneor other forms of air pollution so it makes sense not to expose yourself to the health consequences of breathing that air.

Another speaker spoke about air, in contrast to mineral water. He spoke about how we filter out some materials from water, but preserve others. Look at the info on a brita filter. “We filter these things out but we preserve magnesium and caclium” or something to that effect. The point is that some things that are in the air may be worth keeping. He didn’t specify what we should keep.

He also went on to say that we should have an air quality index, to standardise how clean air should be. Another speaker went so far as to say that we have fire regulations for occupancy in case of fire and sitting space but we should also have maximum occupancy regulations, in relation to air circulation and cleaning.

The list of Speakers

And Finally

As buildings become airtight, so the need to ensure that the air within is healthy, becomes paramount. Since we spend 80 percent of our time indoors it is critical, for our health, to ensure that the air we breath is healthy. I hope that this conference gathers momentum and becomes critical moving forward.

The Luxury of Walking Paths Away From Cars
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The Luxury of Walking Paths Away From Cars

Byrichard

I love to walk and cycle every day. I love to walk from home and not touch the car. This morning I refuelled the car and it cost 90 CHF for 44 litres or so. Every single time I refuel the car I get a shock. Petrol is expensive, and yet people drive every day.

Usually I go for five days per week without touching the car. I walk from home and back. This saves on driving time, parking and petrol. I come up against a clear frustration.

The Need for Foot Paths and Cycling Lanes

When I drive by some communes and villages, for example between Gingins and Cheserex, or between Reverolle and Hautemorges I see a wide pedestrian band where people can walk, far from cars. Imagine the luxury of walking two or three meters away from a road, rather than in the wet, muddy grass.

Consistently Endangered

Yesterday on a stretch of road that is no more than 700 meters long I had three, not one, not two, but three cars that drove too fast, and too close. They did this without needing to. If a car is coming towards them, and they can’t avoid me, then I will walk into the grass, because there is no choice in the matter.

Veiled Threats

Yesterday, a nun, I believe, a white van driver, and a third person drove too fast, too close, without driving to the other side of the road as they passed me. European law says that people must give one and a half meters between cars and cyclists, but also, by empathy, with pedestrians. These people don’t. They just drive on top of you. They want to scare you off the road, and it worked. I did step into the mud when one homicidal person endangered my life.

Give Space and Slow Down

When I drive I always treat pedestrians and cyclists as I would like to be treated. I give them one and a half meters, as required by law, but I also slow down to a humane speed, as I pass them. I don’t want to intimidate people. I want to show empathy. The more people walk, the fewer cars are around, and with fewer cars, so traffic decreases.

Overtraining

I have been frustrated with how cars behave around pedestrians and cyclists for years, so it can’t just be fatigue and overtraining. I still think that fatigue and over-training play a role. If I was less fatigued, if I was going for shorter walks, then the selfish behaviour by car drivers wouldn’t be so toxic. Of course it’s not just physical fatigue.

Exposure Toxicity

Often when I hear a car I go half a meter to a meter into the grass, or even muddy fields, to give space for cars to pass. They thank me but I very often want to flip them the bird. I’m not giving them space, out of empathy. I’m giving them space because I am tired of having cars driving too fast too close, on agricultural roads. It’s not that these people are fast on main roads. They’re fast on agricultural roads, where cars should not be. There is nowhere you can walk, in Switzerland without escaping from cars.

A Desire For More Paths Away From Roads

There are two awful roads, for pedestrians. On one road there is plenty of space to walk, but rather than place a walking path they put bushes, to stop people from walking. This forces people to walk on a busy road where people are driving above the speed limit. If you walk on the foot path you have your back to the homicidal drivers.

On the other road there is plenty of space where a foot path could be added, for pedestrians to walk comfortable between two villages, without being exposed to homicidal car drivers. Yesterday on one bit of road three cars in a row drove too fast, and too close. If I slipped and fell, or fainted, they would run me over.

I saw a woman walking down that road with a pram yesterday. There should be safe options for people walking between villages.

Invest in Walking and Cycling

With a small investment farmers could make walking between villages more pleasant. We could walk away from busy roads and farmers could benefit financially from turning a metre wide band of land into a walking path for pedestrians and cyclists. The space is there, if only someone had the vision.

And Finally

The walks around where I live are nice, but there are two roads that feel really dangerous, especially when the grass is long, and after a few hours of heavy rain. It’s unpleasant to walk half a meter from where people are driving at 80 kilometres an hour. It might not be intimidating for the cars, but it is for pedestrians. I want car drivers to be aware that they can drive more empathetically.

The Environmental Impact of Construction Noise
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The Environmental Impact of Construction Noise

Byrichard

When people speak about construction they always think of the carbon footprint of construction but I’d like to take a look at the noise footprint of destruction of old buildings and construction of new buildings.

I live close to a quarry. If I open the windows I can hear the noise of tracks grating along as diggers and machines move around and drop construction rubble and other materials either onto the ground, or into the truck’s back. A few days I counted at least eight diggers working simultaneously. That’s a lot of noise.

Roof Replacement

A year or two ago I had several weeks of noise pollution that came from the replacement of a roof. They moved the old tiles, removed the wooden beams, and then they had to put new ones. The noise lasted for weeks or even months.

Destruction of Old Buildings

In Switzerland you see that densification is taken seriously. As soon as a single family has moved out of their old homes developers come in, flatten the old building, after just 30-50 years of use, and build something new. A building nearby has been demolished over three days, so far, and the noise is constant, from the time they start their shift until the time their shift ends. The result of this noise pollution, and environmental pollution, is that windows need to be closed and white noise needs to be produced.

The Noise of Construction

Once the buildings are demolished we are then condemned to months of construction noises. We are condemned to the sound of stone cutting, brick cutting, trucks and other machines. We are condemned to hundreds, if not thousands of hours of construction noises, for each building.

My Concern

My concern is that huge amounts of energy are being wasted to build homes that last for one family, before being demolished, and a new building constructed. Every building destruction and rebuild results in a year or two of noise pollution, if not more. That noise has an environmental impact and the Swiss do not worry about it. You can’t fly an ultralight plane, but you can demolish a building and build another, without worrying about noise pollution.

My Idealism

While preparing dinner yesterday I was tempted by the idea of having noise pollution regulations for construction, that would force builders to consider their environmental noise impact. I would measure the base noise level of a construction site, before works begin, and if construction is in a quiet place, it should not be allowed to exceed a certain noise level, for two reasons.

The first is that noise pollution is disruptive. It breaks focus, hence the need for white noise, but it also takes away the freedom to open windows to cool down buildings. During summer heatwavess this means that buildings that could easily be cooled, become impossible to cool down, due to environmental noise pollution.

I found it quieter when I spent 21 days in the middle of Geneva, and when I lived in Meyrin, by the airport, than I do in villages where they want to densify where people live.

Europe is looking at noise pollution, mainly focused at traffic, but I believe that construction noise pollution should be addressed. For four or five years I have suffered from construction noise pollution. It is now so bad that I rarely open windows for more than a few minutes at a time, in between bouts of noise pollution. Before moving in this noisy village I would open windows in the morning, and close them before sunset. I have lost that feedom due to noise pollution

And Finally

Due to noise pollution the Outside Air Temperature is 19°c but I can’t take advantage to cool my 28°c apartment because if I open the windows I will get construction noise permanently. After three years of living in a warm apartment over the summer months I have acclimated. I would like to regain the freedom to cool my apartment, by opening windows, without suffering with the noise of construction.

I miss being able to open a window in the morning, forgetting about it, and then closing it in the evening. I hope that other people feel the same way, and that with time, new noise regulations will come into being.

The Skipped Walk Due to Air Pollution
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The Skipped Walk Due to Air Pollution

Byrichard

Today is an unusual day. Originally I had planed to walk over one thousand meters up the Jura, before realising that I had too little sleep, so I decided to sleep a little more, do laundry, write a blog post and then eat lunch.

Lazy

After lunch I didn’t feel like going for a walk, still. That’s highly unusual for me. I don’t know whether it’s because I am tired from a mediocre night of sleep or whether it’s because of the heat that hasn’t left yet. It’s the 9th of September and it’s still 29 to 30°c. I feel slightly under the weather so I’m skipping the walk.

Air Pollution

[caption id="attachment_10685" align="alignnone" width="250"]Signicative air pollution according to the Geneva Air Quality App Signicative air pollution according to the Geneva Air Quality App[/caption]

Part of my reason for skipping the daily walk is that I noticed that the air has been polluted for several days in a row. According to the air2G2 app the air is highly polluted at the moment. It’s especially Ozone. This is due to the heat, the lack of wind, and people’s overreliance on polluting cars.

Heat

To have 30°c at this time of year is rare. If it was cooler I wouldn’t hesitate so much to go for a walk, but there is the nuisance of dog walkers that is back. Every time I go for a walk I need to adjust my route to avoid the dog walkers. Dog walkers like to walk with their dogs off leash, and dogs like to approach and theaten. Overnight I counted that I have had at least 4-6 dog attacks in the last few years, so if my fear of dogs is getting worse, it’s because I am being harrassed by dogs more regularly.

Riding with Electric Bikes

Another reason for saving my energy today could be for an entirely different reason. Tomorrow I will probably be riding with electric bikes, and although I can comfortably keep up, I do burn a lot of energy. If I save my energy today I should have some, spare, for tomorrow.

And Finally

If I was walking by myself, and then cycling by myself, and then walking by myself, and living according to my own rythmn then I’d be fine, but since I can knacker myself, and then be pushed beyond my limits the next day, it makes sense to take rest days. The Swiss Weather forecast wrote a blog post about the current anticyclone and air pollution. I seem to be thinking like the weather people at the moment.

Air Conditioning and Heat Tolerance

Air Conditioning and Heat Tolerance

Byrichard

Years ago, when working in an air conditioned office I came up with the theory that air conditioning, rather than helping us, during heatwaves, actually has the opposite effect. I came to this idea when I stepped out of my air conditioned office into a warm summer’s day wearing a fleece, and maybe even a sweater. It seemed absurd at the time, because around me people were walking in t-shirts and shorts and I was dressed for winter.

I was reminded of this concept today when people spoke about how important air conditioning is, for making heatwaves bearable. I think the opposite is true. Air conditioning tricks our body into thinking we’re in the middle of winter when we’re in the middle of summer. Indoors we’re dressed for the cold, and outside we get a thermal shock and find it unbearable.

Life Pre-Air Conditioning

Before I worked in air conditioning I would get hot, and I would need to drink, and wear a hat, but I would cope quite happily in all heats. After working in air conditioning for a year or two I noticed that my tolerance for heat was declining. My theory was that air conditioning trains your body to prefer a controlled temperature range. If it’s cooler you’re okay, but if it is warm you fry. I hated to think that I had lost my ability to cope with the heat. Over the last four summers I have lived in 29°c or more in my apartment so I feel the cold, but not the heat. My body has adapted.

I worked as a luggage handler during the 2003 heatwave without suffering at all.

Dependent on Machines

The problem with a lot of people is that they have forgotten that being drenched in sweat is normal. People are so used to be in a suit and tie for work, that they require air conditioning, not because the body can’t cope with hot weather, but because suits and ties cook their wearers. Air conditioning is great for machines, and business men, but awful for human beings in normal clothing. People forget that in summer you get warm, and sweat, and drink water, and wear loose fitting clothes, and open windows.

One of my pet hates of air conditioning in warm weather is that a breeze, on a warm day cools the human body naturally. Water, as it evaporates cools us, and we can even shiver, because cooling that way is so effective. When you’re in an air conditioned office with no air flow you suffer more than in an office with open windows, and a carton of ice tea, or a bottle of water. Drafts are excellent for cooling.

An Open Window and an Open Door

A few years ago I was working in a stuffy office that doubled as a TV studio and it would get warm. If I opened the window no air flowed, and I got the radiant heat from the tarmac outside. I then tried opening the door and that’s when I got a cooling draft. As soon as the window was open the temperature dropped, or at least, my natural body’s cooling mechanism came into play.

What I Dislike about Air Conditioning

What I dislike about air conditioning is that it requires closed windows. You’re insulated from the world in a way that is unpleasant. It cools you so much that you feel cold, rather than comfortable. It requires you to wear extra layers in the middle of summer. The other thing I dislike is that air conditioning exhausts hot air. It has to heat ambient air to a much higher temperature, in order to provide a cooling effect. This seems paradoxical. Air conditioning heats and cools at the same time, but you are on the cool side, and you’re heating the air outside.

The final problem with air conditioning is that it requires huge amounts of power. It wastes as much, or sometimes more than cooling. Do we really want to burn more fossil fuel, and add to the carbon dioxide in the air to cool ourselves? By cooling ourselves we are cooking ourselves. It’s absurd. Air conditioning is part of the problem. Open windows do the same thing, with a much lower environmental cost.

And Finally

The only place where I want air conditioning is cars. I spent a few summers driving down motorways every weekend in a car with broken air conditioning and that’s when I began to call the car “The oven”. Cars do become ovens when they have sat in the sun all day long. The problem, on motorways is that you can’t open the windows. You have to choose between ‘cooking’ with the windows closed, or being exhausted by the noise made by open windows at 120 kilometres per hour.

An Afternoon Walk in the Heat

An Afternoon Walk in the Heat

Byrichard

Yesterday I went for a walk with a Garmin Etrex 32 that was sometimes in my hands and at other times in my pocket. I could have been hands three with a GPS watch but it’s good to play with a variety of devices. I chose the Etrex because it was paired with the Tempe thermometer.
The Thermometer was in my backpack, in the top pocket. I knew that the air temperature would be around 30°c but I wanted to see what the “felt” temperature would be. As I left home the thermometer indicated 28°c before climbing to a maximum of 45°c and an average of 38°c.

I felt fine during this walk. I set off with a 600ml water bottle and for the first half of the walk I didn’t drink because I wasn’t thirsty. By the time I did start drinking my water it was warm.

Walking to Fountains

The advantage of walking the same routes every day for years in a row, is that you learn where the water points are, even in a drought, and even when they turn off most of the fountains. I know of two fountains with drinking water. One of them is by a motorway stop, near a river. It’s a fountain that is near a composting place for garden rubbish.
The second water fountain is down the road from Celigny, on a sleep climb, or descent, depending on your direction of travel. The flow from both of these fountains is slow, but on a hot day, when you’re out of water, they’re fine.
Other fountains run all year round but they have one serious flaw. They’re not “potable”. They are not certified “safe” for drinking. It’s a shame that they don’t tell us what makes these fountains unsafe, because If I knew then I could use one of my water filters to make them safe. I am not playing with water filters to clean water, when I don’t know what I want to remove from it.
The Essential Hat
I never leave home without a hat. In winter it keeps me warm, but in summer it’s to protect me from the sun. If I went for a walk, in conditions like the forecast heatwave, without a hat, then my hair, and head would overheat with speed. My head would have heated to 45°c yesterday, if I had not worn a hat, or been ready with drinking water. I drank 400 to 500ml on the way out. When I was on the return part of the walk I refilled my water bottle, and drank another 600ml.
Without a hat and water I would get heat stroke.

The New Normal

A few years ago I found it nice, and luxurious to get 30°c heat in Switzerland. Occassionaly, when I was climbing, it would get to 40°c by the cliff face. When I had a broken arm I was walking in 37°c heat, and did so for the last few years. When I have a hat, and water, heat doesn’t bother me, especially in the countryside
Heat Islands
I have been cycling on high temperature days and as long as I was riding, with the breeze blowing over me, I was fine. It’s when I stopped, especially in the ovens of Geneva, and other towns, that I felt myself cook. Heat from the sun is one thing. Heat radiating from cement, tarmac and buildings is quite another.
The coolest place I often encounter is forests through which a stream runs. Usually the contrast between the two is clear and distinct. If you’re too warm, on a warm day, head to a forest stream and you’ll recover.

Freedom From Dogs

One of the nicest feature of heatwaves is that the weather is too warm for dogs, so dogs stay indoors, where it’s cooler. I have a fear of dogs, and when the heat waves hit I feel good, because I do not need to worry about encountering dog walkers. I can enjoy my walks fully.

And Finally

For several summers my apartment was so warm that I was soaked, just sitting, doing nothing, and stepping outside into the heat, was actually an opportunity to cool down. As long as I have a hat, and water, I’m fine with the heat. Take away my hat, and water, and I will be like everyone else.
Remember, if you’re too warm indoors, open a window to the outside, and the door from your room to the hallway. Create a breeze, and it will keep you cool.