low_delta: (camo)
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.

Date: 2005-08-03 09:09 pm (UTC)From: [identity profile] zaecus.livejournal.com
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.

Date: 2005-08-04 05:27 am (UTC)From: [identity profile] low-delta.livejournal.com
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?

Date: 2005-08-04 05:30 am (UTC)From: [identity profile] zaecus.livejournal.com
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.

Date: 2005-08-04 12:25 pm (UTC)From: [identity profile] ravenfeather.livejournal.com
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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