The summer this year has been the hottest on record for the world at large ever since they began taking measurements on outdoor temperatures. I live in the south which only compounds this issue. I’m used to weather that hovers in the high 90s most days, but this last summer season saw temperatures climb over 105 degrees some afternoons. Even though we have gorgeous beaches, I don’t like to be out in the sun even if I’m using SPF 50 sunscreen or something stronger. My skin is insanely sensitive to burns, and I am one of a small minority of people who experience the unfathomably painful ‘devil’s itch’ when I’m healing from moderate to severe sun burns. It feels like being stabbed with hot pins and needles for hours or days at a time. As a result, I spend more time indoors than many during the tepid summer weather. This isn’t good for my energy bills, because I like to keep the air in the house cool while I’m at home. I’ll forget that I set the thermostat to 72 degrees and will have it running like that during the hottest times of the afternoon. I’m scared because my air conditioner broke down yesterday and it took me hours to connect to someone at my HVAC supplier over the phone. I had to wait on hold and keep calling them back because their call volume is so high in the late summer season. When I finally reached someone at the front desk, I was told that my HVAC repair would take a week at least. As much as I don’t want to go without air conditioning for a week, I don’t have much of a choice. When I called competing HVAC suppliers, they all told me it would take two to three weeks at least to get someone out to my house for repairs.