23 year old air conditioner broke, it is literally 95+ degrees in my home

somehow there are only like 3 or 4 (of the most common size) units left in the entire state of florida so i'm just waiting

please fucking shoot me, it would be a genuine kindness

failing that, any advice for not succumbing to heatstroke would be appreciated

  • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    I just went through this three weeks ago. We had a heat wave and it got over 94 degrees in my apartment because my 40 year old ac couldn't keep up with the heat. I spent 12 hours doing nothing but trying to keep me and my cat from getting dangerously hot.

    If you have fans and windows, try to force the hot air out with one and bring fresh air in with another. I grabbed multiple buckets and filled them with ice and put them in front of fans to try to create a little bit of cool air. Constantly be sipping on water. Keep wash cloths or paper towels with cold wet water on your body.

    • Kuori [she/her]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      glad you and the kitty made it through without deep frying!

      unfortunately i've got precisely one fan but i'm loading up ice to put in front of it as mentioned by you and a few others. thanks <3

      • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Could anyone let you borrow a fan? I had exactly one desk fan, and a friend let me borrow 3 standing fans that were literal lifesavers. Then the next day, another friend let me borrow a portable A/C unit that kept us cool-ish for 3 weeks until maintenance could replace my A/C. It still got dangerously hot in the bedroom, so I just kept that door shut and stayed in the living room.

        I'm really sorry you're going through this, it's terrible. Hang in there, comrade. :heart-sickle:

        • Kuori [she/her]
          hexagon
          ·
          2 years ago

          unfortunately this is a borrowed fan. the (literal fucking lifesaving) news is the a/c people just called and said there was an issue or something with one of the installs they were gonna do so now i'm officially Next In Line

          so it should only be a day or so more :inshallah:

      • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I just read that you have kitties, too! A few times an hour, I would wet paper towel with cool (not super-duper cold) water, wring it out, and wipe it on my cat to cool her off. She's a long-haired cat who gets really hot, so I wanted to make extra sure that she was doing okay. She also really appreciated it and would sip the cool water from her fur.

        • Kuori [she/her]
          hexagon
          ·
          2 years ago

          GOOD idea, gonna do this right now! :cat-vibing:

          • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Putting a couple ice cubes in their water might entice them to drink more. Cats can be kinda dumb sometimes and don't hydrate as much as they need to, lol.