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I don't mind the heat. I have a problem with cold. My body doesn't react to temperatures like most people's.

First of all, when I'm inactive, my body cools down. It doesn't matter what I'm wearing, I get cold. In the winter, the house is at 68°, and when I'm sitting in front of the computer, I can be wearing a coat - a winter coat - and still be cold. My exposed mouse hand gets very cold, and starts to ache. This is why it bothers me when someone says, "when it's cold, you can put more clothes on, but when it's too hot, you can't." That's not true for me. Similarly, when I'm active, I heat up. I can do some mild activity, like vacuuming, in that same temperature, and be sweating in a t-shirt.

But sweating doesn't bother me. I used to think that the people who complained about the heat were simply uncomfortable. Like they didn't like to sweat. Oh no, my skin is moist! Whatever shall I do? But now I've discovered that some people really start having physical difficulties when the temperature gets much above eighty. They get headaches, or start to get dizzy, or they get very irritable and can't think straight. They could start getting this way at 85°. I'd never discovered people like this until recently. I like it when it's 85°. And it's such a common temperature that I can't imagine going through life being bothered by it. 80° is when it's warm enough that I can sit around in shorts and a t-shirt. 85° is when it's pleasantly hot. 90° is when it's hot, but not hot enough to complain about unless I have to be out working in it (like pushing a mower around the lawn in the sun). Every year, I look forward to a few ninety degree days. I like sitting around the house wearing very little. And sleeping wearing very little and maybe not having a sheet over me. I anticipate that all winter. And I like not waking up cold. Remember how I said I cool down when I'm inactive? That happens overnight. At seventy-five degrees, I need a blanket or two, by morning.

I've also noticed that my whole-body temperature doesn't change as quickly as my skin temperature does, and how I feel is dicated by the internal sensors. My skin can be cooled off, while my core temperature remains high. Even though my skin is cool, I still feel hot. Conversely, I can be refrigerated in the 74 degree office, leave and get in my 120° car, and still not feel the desire to roll down the windows right away. My skin can be baking, but I'll still feel cold overall.

And I like the feel of a breeze when it's warm. I prefer 90 and breezy over 80 and still.

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You'll love the desert. This past week, sunny days have been a balmy 107 or 110. Clear nights drop into the chilly low 80's. In a hot day (107) when a monsoon T-storm hits, it'll drop down to the high 80's at the drop of a hat. Most evenings a 20MPH breeze kicks in...

Of course, it won't get quite so hot in Oct/Nov time-frame, and it'll drop down much colder at night, but it'll still be the desert!

I'm looking forward to experiencing the desert.

That's very interesting.

Most of the time I'm too warm. My normal body temperature is low: about 97 degrees. I think that's why I have trouble with my weight. I just don't burn as many calories each day as normal people. I'm hoping to bring my body temp up with exercise. At my last doc appointment my temp was 98.4. That's great for me.

Ray and I both like for it to be cool at night. We just open the window in our bedroom, and it cools right down, even in the summer. The breeze comes in from the river just below our window.

My mother's body temp is below average. Mine is normal, but I have similar circulation issues. When my fingers are really cold, the blood will go out of them.

I'd like to open the windows at night - especially since the AC will continue to run even after the outside temp is below the inside temp - but the AC keeps the humidity down.

I've never analyzed it that thoroughly. My main complaint about heat is the headaches it causes. My sinuses close up and I don't seem to get enough oxygen. It's like suffocating slowly. And that's when the headaches start.

I never knew the heat would do things like that to people. Makes you wonder how humanity survived.

I think we're whimpier than in the old days.

I am the same way.. that is why I can do what I do in this area of the country and not die of heat stroke.. I feel better when it is warm.. and if my body temp drops I have a hell of a time raising it.. and at night.. forget it. I am under loads of covers, walk around in the house in layers of winter clothing.. etc.

It usually means that your body temperature is lower than "average" if you have that cold difficulty. Mine is 96.8.. gotta love dyslexia! My fingers will actually turn blue if I am inactive. Winter or summer.

It isn't the outside temperature that is the problem for the most part, it is the internal. Try hot and cold fluids to regulate your body temp when you are freezing/sweating.. and "hot" herbs and spices when you are cold. That is one reason I got hooked in chai so thoroughly.. and make it myself. Most of the spices in it will raise your body temp: Cinnamon, pepper, cloves, ginger, cardamom. I am thinking of adding mustard seed to it this year when I start making it again.. just to see if it help. Plus.. I love the taste of mustard. It does help warm me up in the mornings (or that mid afternoon cold slump that I seem to have)

I knew you weren't one of those people that was bothered by the heat... working hard under that Georgia sun when it's 98 degrees out.

yeah, even though I would have never chosen to live here.. in a lot of ways I think I am where I was meant to be.. for now.

i'm one of those people who can't deal with the temps once over they're over 80. i have almost passed out when exercising in the heat. it gets worse every year. not sure why i am so sensitive to it. could be partly due to my medicaTions.

You must be just fine, then, with the recent high temperatures. And the humidity doesn't bother you either?

When we were in Vietnam, the actual day we got Nate, it was HOT and I actually couldn't think straight. I was on the verge of tears when Frank said that I looked pale and felt clammy; he thought I was on the verge of heat exhaustion so sent the driver out to get water for us and made me sit in the shade.

And I'm more often warm than cold; in fact, I think I'm rarely cold.

Yeah, the high temps don't bother me much. But it has been cooler where we are than in much of the rest of the country. A few weeks ago, it was in the nineties in Minnesota, Upper Michigan and Ontario, but in the eighties here in southern Wisconsin.

I'd say you had passed the verge of heat exhaustion.

Once the temperature is below 70, I have to stay active in order to stay warm. It sounds like we're complete opposites.

I've never analyzed it that much, either, but do know that I greatly prefer to be warm or hot than to be cold. It's the main reason I left Minnesota for California, and the weather here is about as close to perfect as I could hope for. I think you'd like it, too - it's dry and warm, and on the hottest summer days the breeze from the Bay is heavenly at night.

He likes to be hot at night and not have any air moving on his skin.

OK, he can do that, too, here, just keep the windows closed. :D

That's not really true. I like a little air moving, but I don't like the constant air from a fan blowing directly on me, and sometimes air from a window, blowing directly on me, can be distracting. At my old house, my feet were directly in front of the window, and the wind would keep me awake. Here, the window is across the room, so I would like it open.

Why did you have me close it every night?? I wanted it open and you said it bothered you.

The one at the duplex? Because it was a foot away from my feet, and it kept me awake. I didn't have a problem with the one over my head, as long as it didn't make the shade flap.

Or do you mean here? I think I was reluctant to open the one over our heads, but at some point I suggested it. I preferred the other one to be open at night. Maybe I didn't push it because of the noise. Or because if it was warm enough for the window to be open, it was warm enough for the a/c to be on.

some sort of communication problem, I guess.

I mean the one here, that you say is across the room. Maybe we don't open it because of the bright street light? I'm sure you told me at first that you wanted it closed and probably because you thought it would blow on your feet.

I don't think it was a wind thing. Probably noise.

I thought maybe a street light thing. I can't have a crack in the shade because it shines in my eyes.

I'm sure I would like that weather. I'd miss the snow, though. I wish it could snow when it was 60°.

When I was about 10 and we were in Palm Springs, we took the then new tram up the mountainside and when we got out there was a lot of snow, but it was so WARM - probably about 60. We Minnesotans freaked out.

This is a really great post, and I'm glad you took the time to write it all out. It gives me a much clearer idea of your complaints about temperature, and it also lets me know that you do understand that I'm not just being whiney about the heat.

We're so compatible in the Winter when we're both freezing while sitting around the house, and we both like lots of blankets at night. And then when I get too warm under there, you can cool me off while I warm you up at the same time...just by body contact.

Unfortunately, we are NOT compatible in the Summer. And there isn't any compromise we can make that doesn't mean one or both of us is miserable. It's at times like this that I can clearly see why some married couples sleep in separate rooms. You could lay there cooking and sweating happily in your room, while I go to bed in my chilly room with comfy blankets, maybe even a fan blowing. Ahhh the good old days...

But the problem isn't just at night. You don't want any cool air anywhere inside during the Summer. Muggy humidity and oppressive heat are fine with you. I can't live like that. I don't mind being warm during the Summer, because I waited all Winter feeling chilled to the bone, wishing for some heat. But my comfort level for heat is much different than yours.

What I STILL don't understand is how you can like Winter Camping when it is exactly the environment you're complaining about in this post. You like snow. You like skiing. But you get cold too easily in the house?

ya'll need a special room in your new home- all insulated
and "sealed" from the rest of the house- where mr. freekee
can abide for the summer! he can have the windows open
on hot days and delight to his heart's content.

i'm sort of joking, but, you know, this might be doable.
i mean, you can build a room to suit all sorts of needs.
my grandma's half-sister was married to a very sick man
and she had a whole house built to strange specifications,
sort of like a bubble boy would require.

i'm NOT saying that mr. freekee is like a bubble boy.
please don't misunderstand me!
*love*

Oh ooops, replied before I saw the disclaimer.

LOL Bubble Boy!

I don't think he wants to be stuck in his bubble room all Summer. He wants to roam the house freely.

Did you just call him a very sick man?? *giggle*

You could lay there cooking and sweating happily in your room

It's just that I just don't mind it. When I lie in bed with barely a sheet covering me, I'm not hot, I'm comfortable. Sometimes it gets too cool, and I pull a blanket up. Or are you just being facetious?

You don't want any cool air anywhere inside during the Summer. Muggy humidity and oppressive heat are fine with you.

That's not exactly true, either. I don't mind having to dress for cold weather when it's cold, but I dislike having to dress that way because someone has chosen to make the house that way - and that I have to pay money for it, on top of that.

Part of the reason I like the winter camping is for the challenge of it. And p,art of what makes it tolerable is the mindset you get. I don't get the mindset when I'm sitting in the office reading my friends page.

What I meant to say in the first sentence was, "It's not that I *like* the heat, it's that I just don't mind it.

wow! you and i wouldn't do well in a room together for long!
i need it to be cooler for sleeping- i think most people
prefer that for good reason. i simply can't sleep
if i'm too warm. i think maybe your internal thermometer is broken ;) where are your people from, again? *wink*

i too get too cold sometimes, but i love the cooler weather.
and, if i move around, i do get warm enough to function in
the cold. here's what i don't like about artificial air-
i get too cold when the air goes off then i get too hot
before it comes back on again. never-ending cycle of crap.
*snort* but i need the cool air to breathe right, to stay healthier.
allergies, asthma, and a host of heat-related pains
makes me a cranky woman in the hot weather. and 85 might
just be hot enough, if it's real sunny or humid! ew. hate that.

It's interesting that people say that heat makes them sleepy, but when they want to sleep, they prefer it cool.

There's another thing about me liking it warmer, though. Other people like it cool, but then they cover up with blankets. I like it warm, but then I throw the sheets off and stay at a reasonable temperature. So what's the difference? And when it's cool, my body gets cool. As in, uncomfortable, and I can't sleep, and near-shivering. So it's not that I want to be cool (*snort*), it's that if the room is cool, I get cold.

I think Cyn likes it cool just so she can have lots of blankets on. It's a security thing.

I don't like the air because when it cools off at night, the house stays warm and stuffy because we can't open the windows, or it gets humid before we have to turn it back on in the morning. Okay, that's only one reason of many.

I appreciate your writing this entry. It explains a lot to me.

I, too, have a low body temperature. I don't think I always did, but I have for a long time. As I've gotten older--the last 20 years or so--I get very chilled sitting still in cold weather. My hands can get quite cold while on the computer, even tho I have two or three layers of clothing on. Maybe that has something to do with circulation? Maybe not.

In the midst of winter I like using my afghan size electric blanket while watching TV because it seems to heat the core of me. Then my hands get warm, and my nose, even tho they're outside the blanket.

At the same time I have always suffered from heat and I think that grows worse with age, too. Breathing warm air at night makes it very difficult to go to sleep and I have stuffy sinuses and headaches if I do. Going out in 85 degree plus weather can easily make me dizzy, I can't think as straight and I have trouble breathing. I don't know how much of this is connected with asthma and allergies.

I can see from your description that just 'putting on more clothes' isn't the answer for you. I made the mistake of thinking that because that is the answer for me, it would work for anyone. I can see that's not true, and I appreciate your detailed view.

There are times in the winter that nothing I can do will raise my temperature enough to be able to sleep. When that happens I use an electric heating pad on whatever body part needs it most, and it rarely gets to freezing here. In the mornings I can take a really long hot shower and as long as I remain active, I am fine.. but if I stop moving.. no amount of clothing will warm me up again.

A friend recently told me, that if he takes a long hot shower in the morning, he stays warm all day. It doesn't matter how hot my shower is, I can barely keep warm enough when I'm under the water. I chill quickly when it goes off.

It really does seem like exercise is the key for you.. or something to help raise your internal temp. I remember when I left Alaska, I had acclimatized to that environment, and I was going to Arkansas, via Arizona, so I didn't take a coat, as the only one I had was a parka. I don't remember EVER in my life being as cold as I was in Arkansas, and I still get really cold there in the winter. While we were on our trip in November this year, I was wearing two pairs of pants, and several long sleeve shirts under my lined hoodie.. while everyone else was in shirtsleeves. My mother and sister were really worried about me, thinking I was sick or had a disease or something.. but it is normal for me. I have adjusted to the higher temps of the environment I am in now.

Interesting thing here.. and you have mentioned it above; none of my family.. sister, mother or myself can "handle" forced indoor temperature control. It makes us feel ill. I am also one of those who doesn't like moving air on me at night, it dries my sinuses out and gives me headaches, but I also don't like too much forced heat or air in the house, for the same reason. I HAVE to have it here. I set the air on 80, the heat on 70.. but I think if I lived in a more temperate place, I would try everything I could to keep from having to use forced temperature control, other than a fire for heat. I LOVE a fire for heat, because I can control how warm *I* am.. by moving in front of or away from.

There is one other "issue" that is tied into this for me, and that is the one of instant gratification. I had to deal with this at work when I was a laser light, and with my daughter, although I have some control (when I am there) over how she reacts. People who walk into an air conditioned space from outside, where it is very hot are still hot.. and a lot of them think they are DIEING and are going to DIE if they don't cool off as quickly as possible, so they crank the air DOWN to some unreasonable setting (Terry the boss likes his air set on 65 all the time, but will shove it down to 50 when he has just come inside) to cool them off FAST. You can do the same thing, by stop moving. Sit down, take deep breaths to slow your breathing, drink something cold.. all of those actions will cool your body down, in a SELF RELIANT manner instead of changing the entire environment to suit that one temporary feeling of being too hot.. even sweating.

That .... is a little piece of baggage (peeve) of mine. *grin*

I haven't studied how my body temp reacts to activity much, but I do know I rapidly cool down when inactive, so I could have written this.

My lady has noted it's very easy to tell when I'm actually sleepy; my body starts kicking out heat, easily making it uncomfortable for anyone in the same bed with me.

Maybe we were grown in the same lab.

when I'm actually sleepy; my body starts kicking out heat

Interesting. I can't imagine how that would work. My body doesn't give off the heat as it slows down. It just stops retaining it. Does your skin feel warm at that point?

Not at all. My skin tends to go very cold, at least, at first. Unless I am cocooned during the night, I can actually wake up freezing cold in an air-conditioned environment and require a soak in a hot bath to get me moving again.

From what I understand, this is actually fairly normal for people who live in and are adjusted to places where the night temperatures drop to a level that could be dangerous, and who still live without a lot of forced environment control. Their bodies heat up as they are getting ready for bed, and as they sleep, then their bodies stop producing that heat, and they cool off as they sleep, but if they are covered, the coverings help retain the heat that their bodies produced at the beginning of the sleep period.

I wonder if some people retain that natural means of self preservation in their body regulation even if they don't live under those conditions? Interesting.

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