Air con -

Air con, air con, air con.

To have or not to have.... what a dilemma

Recently NHK has been shaking it's head about social inequity citing  'lack of airconditiong' as a reason why people have been dying from heat stroke.   Uuuhhhh.....  
It's a bit unimaginative to conclude the reason for dying of heatstroke is lack of aircon in the home - nevermind the windows, drinking water, fans, water spray bottles, light clothing  etc.    The logic doesn't really follow & I suspect they must have shares in Tokyo Denki (electricity)....

We don't have aircon;  we use a fan.  People are invariably shocked when I say as much...."but how can you survive?"  Um... I just do...

When I sat down to write this, I challenged myself to see if I could come up with 10 clearly different reasons for not having aircon.... Let's see....

1.  It makes me feel clammy - cold on the inside but my skin sweats - like it's messing with my internal body thermometre.

2. It blocks my nose.

3. It dries my skin

4. I. have an admittedly unscientific belief that being in air con makes one aircon dependent.  If you're accustomed to the heat it doesn't affect you as much.

5. I enjoy the breeze that comes in through the windows.

6. It's cheaper  (contrary to most people's assumption, this is not the main motivator).

7. Having an aircon backing onto the balcony might make the clothes dry faster but it makes the balcony too  hot to sit on.

8.Tokyo has a horrific heat island problem and aircon is seriously exacerbating it.  (More on that ilater)

9. It allows me to be a self righteous curmudgeon with other people's wasted energy.

10. It assuages my conscience come winter when the heater in on permanently :)

Easily done!

All of that said though,  I was sorry not have had it last week when Lily & family visited.  It would have made for more comfortable sleeping.


Back to point 8.  The heat island effect will be the subject of a new post.