115 dgrees for 3 days and counting

So I am sitting at work today during this hell week of weather and hotness and we get a automated pop-up that tells us that the AC is being turned off and to turn off all non-essential lights to conserve energy because con ed is having rolling black outs. Now keep in mind I live in a city that everything is piled up on everything else and if there is a black out in this heat I have no idea what the hell we would do to survive and not get heat stroke. So with lights off and temp in the office rising and we get an announcement (we have loud speakers in the office and to paint an even better picture for you the way that they sound is not far off from the way that the subway announcements sound. You can barely make out what is being said to you. This is our emergency system…needless to say I don’t feel so safe sometimes) so this is the announcement…or what I could understand of it:

“Con ed had issued an evacuation of the premises. Those who will not evacuate will receive a police escort from the building. But since con ed doesn’t know what they are doing and have since recalled the evacuation, I will not evacuate and turn the ac back on but keep all non essential light off”

I am not sure how I feel about this. I can only imagine since the past few days have been hell with the train the brutal return by foot to Brooklyn. Because when there is an emergency like this in the city cabs gouge prices and charge by zones and are virtually impossible to come by. I found this out very quickly during the TWA transit strike over the winter. I must admit that walking over the Brooklyn Bridge in a mild winter weather with the proper gear sounds a hell of a lot better than walking over it in 115 degree weather with the sun beating down on you. And you knew in the winter where you were going would be warm. I could very well walk home to a power outage in Brooklyn as well. And with no power in brooklyn i could not continue to add to my electricity bill with the 3 (yes i said 3) AC units in out itty bitty apt.Fingers crossed that the world doesn't end today from this hellish hotness.

It reminds me that when we had the transit strike right before Christmas how Cate, myself and Dan C. all plied into his small studio apartment in little Italy for three days.One studio meant for one person housing 3, needless to say we all had to be on our sweetest behavior to survive the lack of personal space. And they would walk 35 blocks up town and then some to get to work. It was nice and memorable. Just shows that you gotta do what you have to do and on a daily basis the city just throws things at you that you have to deal with. If its not trains and such its always something else. This city definitely turns you into an indestructible problem-solving individual who is affected by very little. I think I love it about it here.

Eric started school and thing have been going well. As much as I miss the time spent it is nice to have some time to myself to catch up and go out with some friends. He is apparently the class nerd because he knows so much and is comfortable in the kitchen. I just hope he doesn’t get discouraged when he doesn’t excel at everything and actually learns thing instead of just knowing it. I think this is good for him. He is always really excited to tell me about what they cooked and things like that.

Bad new is I have had to promise to stop eating soy margarine and consider stopping drinking soymilk. He explained what he was taught about the processes of how they are made and how it is very very unhealthy for you. I agree to the margarine… not sure I can give up the soymilk. I love it in the cereal in the morning. We’ll see. His premise on this argument is one that his teacher brought up that they way we process our food and the politics behind what is considered healthy being based solely on companies and their power. In a round about way what we perceive to be healthy might really not be for us and he made a good point that in comparison to a country that doesn’t process and pasteurize the hell out of its food (like France because it is a French cooking school he is attending)..He just says to compare the rate of cancer to us. America has such an increased rate of cancer and it is directly related to a day-to-day food intake. Hmmm.

Positive note: I guess now I have a personal chef and nutritionalist for a boyfriend. I suppose I can do nothing but benefit and eat better.