Dear Bethany,
We are now in the few weeks of time in Boston when the weather is really warm. Most of the buildings here do not have AC and are designed to insulate against heat loss, so the inside is warmer than the outside at all times of day. My apartment does fine because it’s only on the second floor and I also have a window AC unit in case of heat emergencies. A’s apartment however heats up like a box of fire, so we’ve been trying a few things to keep our blood from literally boiling. I’ll document two low-tech methods that seemed to have some impact in case you’re ever in such a situation. These methods are not elegant, but they will cool you down and give you a good laugh.
1. Hacker AC
Materials:
- A fan
- Risers of some kind (pictured here are blue solo cups)
- A shallow dish
- Ice
Assembly:
Fill the shallow dish with ice and set upon the risers so the fan blows across them cubes. This will circulate cool air around the room. And yes, the above photo is a screenshot of a snapchat.
2. Curtain spray
Materials:
- Lightweight curtains
- spray bottle
- water
Directions:
Use the bottle to spray water on the curtains. Open the window and close the curtains. The hot air blowing in from outside will be cooled by the evaporating water before it enters your home. Also you block the sunlight out and avoid creating your own personal greenhouse effect.
As I said before, these methods will not win you any fancy points or an invitation to the palace, but they do in a pinch! Luckily A is moving to a new apartment at the end of the month, so we won’t need to use them for long. Plus it’s Boston so winter is always coming soon.
—
Your food festival spread looked delicious. And I’ve been wanting to try jet skiing for awhile now. How exciting that you’re all set up to give it a shot. Please update me on how it goes and throw some pro-tips my way!
E
the tin can telephones 