Writing in Snow

Summer in Las Vegas

Word count: 576

Summer has come to Las Vegas, with its triple digit temperatures. The air conditioner in the house works as well as can be expected under the circumstances. I have set the thermostat to 80 degrees, which means the only time the unit goes off is when the temperature indoors is 80 or below. That does not occur during the daylight hours.

I think it should be cooler in the house, but perhaps the problem is me rather then the temperature. I have an area fan that I turn on during the day and it seems to help a little. I think the biggest problem is the way the house is constructed. I cannot close off the living room, dinning room, or breakfast room. The only rooms that have doors are the bedrooms and the bathrooms. Closing the doors seems to help a little, but not that much.

Another problem I have is the entrance to the attic. The cover to that broke and I cannot seal the attic off from the rest of the house, I think I am loosing air through the attic. Even if I got a cover for it, I am not sure if I could install it safely. The difficulty would be climbing the latter and then getting the cover up to that part of the house. The attic entrance is in the ceiling of the hall closet and it is not easy to get access. I am not sure what I am going to do, but I am going to have to do something about it this month because the temperatures in August are worse then in July.

I am going to change the filter in the air conditioner this evening or early in the morning. I have a new filter and the proper screwdriver to remove the screws. I just do not want to change the filter while the air conditioner is running. I am not sure why, but I would rather change the filter when the unit is off.

Another thing I do not like to do is take the trash out to the garage in this weather. I took a couple of bags earlier today, before it got too hot. It is extremely hot, with humidity. I think the problem is the humidity and not the heat by itself. As I look out my living room window, I see small white clouds. They are not large clouds, but in the desert, all clouds mean humidity.

I am going to wait until after sunset to take trash and recyclables out. I do not like opening and closing the front door because it lets out what cool air I have. I know the air is working because when I stand under the vents, I can feel cool air. Perhaps I need a bigger unit or another unit for this house, well that is out of the question for now anyway. I have two facets and the pipes behind the washer to fix. I also have to figure out a way to get Mom a new bathroom.

I contacted one place and have an phone interview scheduled, but they do not do remolding. The shower in Mom’s bathroom is a sunken shower/tub combination. Mom cannot go down the steps easily, so I must have the floor and a new shower installed. This is not going to be easy; I think it will be possible, but not easy to raise the money.